A Simple Gesture can benefit from growing corporate volunteer time off programs
Growing VTO programs can turn A Simple Gesture's food pickups and pantry support into a steadier corporate volunteer pipeline, not just an occasional extra hand.
As of December 2025, A Simple Gesture counted more than 8,000,000 child-size meals and $13,000,000 worth of food donated, with more than 75 pantry partners, more than 3,900 recurring food donors, and 200 monthly volunteers. The Guilford County organization already runs on repeatable labor: doorstep donations through its green bag program, corporate pickups, Saturday routes, and food recovery shifts that depend on dependable people showing up on time. That makes it the kind of nonprofit that can make paid volunteer hours work as a practical staffing tool.
Why VTO fits a food-recovery operation
Volunteer Time Off is a company-offered program that lets employees volunteer while being paid during hours they would otherwise be working. It can improve morale, health, motivation, and talent retention, while nonprofits get more reliable help and communities get more service.
A Simple Gesture is not trying to absorb random one-off volunteers. It has made donating food easy since 2015 through door-to-door pickups, corporate pickups, and timely food recovery pickups, and it works with dozens of local food pantries to move food where it can be used quickly. It is built around coordination, route timing, and repeat relationships.
What a workable VTO policy looks like
VTO programs have to fit the way a company actually runs across consumer goods, energy, financials, healthcare, and materials, and across salaried, hourly, exempt, nonexempt, unionized, off-site, manufacturing, and call-center workers. For employers working with A Simple Gesture, the policy has to fit the way the company actually runs.
For a corporate partner, that means setting VTO up as scheduled service, not a vague invitation. Managers need clear approval rules, teams need pre-set service dates, and the nonprofit needs enough notice to assign work that matches the group. A Simple Gesture already offers a volunteer registration page and calendar, which makes it easier to align employee service time with specific Saturday pickups, community events, or pantry support shifts across Guilford County.
A Simple Gesture always needs drivers to collect food from donors and deliver it to pantry partners, and its food recovery program asks for weekday drivers who can rescue edible food from businesses and take it to local nonprofits. Those volunteers must be age 18 or above, use a smartphone, use a clean personal car, and be able to lift 20-pound boxes.
Where A Simple Gesture can put paid volunteer hours to work
A Simple Gesture has a mix of tasks that map cleanly to corporate VTO teams. Some employees can sort and stage donations. Others can help with pantry prep, build route kits, staff food drives, or assist at one-day pickup events. Businesses, civic groups, and faith communities can host food drives with A Simple Gesture’s tools and support, which makes it easier for employers to turn VTO into a team-based activity instead of sending people out individually with no coordination.
The organization also customizes surplus-food recovery from grocery stores, restaurants, caterers, corporate cafeterias, and more. That gives employers a direct way to connect paid volunteer time with the food systems around their own workplaces. A corporate cafeteria, for example, can become part of the supply chain rather than just a donor after the fact, and a VTO day can be built around actual pickup routes instead of a loose service project.
A Simple Gesture works to engage the community to provide a sustainable supply of food to local food pantries in Guilford County, to collect excess perishable food for local nonprofits and community meals, and to support the SHARE program in Guilford County Schools. Corporate volunteers can help on all three fronts if the work is planned around the organization’s existing calendar and route structure.
Why companies are already treating VTO as part of the job
In 2025, 86% of Civic 50 honorees offered VTO, up from 72% in 2019. Those honorees engaged 460,000 employees in volunteering and contributed 6.5 million hours of service, and 41% of employees at Civic 50 companies participated in external volunteering, compared with a U.S. average of 23%.
In its 2026 release, Civic 50 said the top civic-minded companies contributed more than $1 billion in resources and mobilized more than 370,000 employees to serve communities.
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